University of Groningen Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time: Help or hinder? Huang, Ting

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University of Groningen

Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time: Help or hinder? Huang, Ting

DOI:

10.33612/diss.135925259

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Publication date: 2020

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Citation for published version (APA):

Huang, T. (2020). Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time: Help or hinder?. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.135925259

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Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time:

Help or hinder?

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The research reported in this thesis has been carried out under the auspices of the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) of the Faculty of Arts of the Universtiy of Groningen.

Groningen Dissertations in Linguistics 187 Cover design: Gildeprint, The Netherlands Printed by: Gildeprint ｜www.Gildeprint.nl

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Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time:

Help or hinder?

PhD thesis

to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen

on the authority of the

Rector Magnificus Prof. C. Wijmenga and in accordance with

the decision by the College of Deans. This thesis will be defended in public on

Monday 19 October 2020 at 9.00 hours

by

Ting Huang

born on 18 July 1990 in Sichuan, China

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Supervisor

Prof. M.H. Verspoor

Co-supervisor

Dr. R.G.A. Steinkrauss

Assessment Committee

Prof. Y. Zheng Prof. Z. Dörnyei Prof. W.M. Lowie

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Acknowledgment

Ten years ago, I was enrolled in the bi-foreign-language program at the Taiyuan University of Technology for my undergraduate study. I and my peer students were the second class enrolled in this program ever since its establishment in 2009. During those undergraduate years, I had a difficult time keeping the balance between English and Japanese. Compared to English majors, we English and Japanese majors had much less time for English outside of the classroom because we had Japanese to cater to. Therefore, I was constantly doubting whether it was the right decision to choose this program. I feel proud that I can investigate this phenomenon later on in a Ph.D. project. Now I have an answer to my doubts about choosing to learn two foreign languages at the same time: It was the right decision.

Such a conclusion is drawn after years of questioning, exploring, and hard working. I am lucky that I was encouraged and supported by many along this journey. My greatest and deepest gratitude goes to my supervisors, prof. Marjolijn Verspoor and dr. Rasmus Steinkrauss, without their help, it is not possible to finish this project. If a Ph.D. is a long voyage full of both fulfilling and frustrating moments, then Marjolijn has been the Captain of our crew, keeping us sail in the right direction. Rasmus has been the Mate of our team, guiding me, the sailor, from day to day. They not only guide me in designing and carrying out the research, writing and publishing the work, but also encourage and inspire me in many aspects. In daily life, Rasmus is also a dear friend whom I trust and can always turn to. The EuroSLA trip to Münster with Marjolijn, Kees, and Sirkku is one of my best memories ever. Along this Ph.D. journey, I have always felt fully supported, which is, I believe, very important for a young researcher to grow.

I am also deeply grateful to prof. Hao Mei, who first introduced me to the field of second language acquisition and recommended the CDST article wrote by de Bot, Lowie, and Verspoor in 2007. This article enlightened me and led me from China to Groningen, the Netherlands. Moreover, I owe my deep gratefulness to my English teachers and Japanese teachers in my undergraduate and master studies. Marianne Geula, my English speaking, and academic writing teacher, knows the strongest parts in me and always believes in me. It is her encouragement and love that made me believe in my capability to pursue a doctoral degree abroad from the very first

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Acknowledgment

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place. Li Xiuhong, my Japanese teacher, who is also a dear friend, helped me out with my pilot study in 2017. Liu Jingfeng, Wu Ting, Yang Jie, and Zhang Jianying, supported me unconditionally during the one year of data collection. Without them, I could not imagine how it is possible to collect an enormous amount of data.

I am grateful to the members of the Ph.D. support group: Ana Pot, Audrey Rousse-Malpat, Bregtje Seton, Floor van den Berg, Giulia Sulis, Hongying Peng, Jelle Brouwer, Loes Groen, Mara van der Ploeg, Marita Everhardt, Pouran Seifi, Sirkku Lesonen, Steven Gilbers, Susanne Dekker, Tim, Vass Verkhodanova, and Wim Gombert. I would like to thank them for their insightful feedback and suggestions on the designing of my study, my papers, and my presentation skills, etc. I would also like to thank the (former) staff members of the Department of Applied Linguistics, prof. Kees de Bot, prof. Marije Michel, prof. Merel Keijzer, and prof. Wander Lowie, for creating a supportive and open atmosphere for the Ph.D. students. My special thanks go to dr. Hanneke Loerts, who is one of the co-authors of my first paper, for her perceptive insights on literature review writing and data analyses.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for my reading committee, prof. Wander Lowie, prof. Zheng Yongyan, and prof. Zoltán Dörnyei, for spending time reading my dissertation and giving valuable feedback and comments. With these excellent insights, I can inspect my study from perspectives that I may have not noticed, and therefore improve the whole dissertation to a higher level in the future.

My friends in Groningen made my life colorful and enjoyable. I would like to thank Sirkku Lesonen, my Finnish girl. Like we always say: Our life would be much darker without each other. I want to thank Giulia Sulis and Susanne Dekker, the sweetest Italian girl and Dutch girl I have ever known, for all the fun things we did together and for the support and encouragement. I would like to thank Hou Junping and Pouran Seifi, for helping me a lot when I first arrived here and had a difficult time going through culture shock. I would like to thank all the Ph.D. students working or worked in Rode Weeshuisstraat 12 for maintaining a nice atmosphere in the building. I am grateful for the wonderful people I shared office with over the four years, Dymphi van der Hoeven, Hou Junping, Harm Timmerman, Rob Ahlers, Sirkku Lesonen, Suzanne Dekker.

I would also like to thank my friends from the Chinese community in Groningen: Feng Xiangyuan, He Kun, Hong Yiyi, Jiang Bin, Jiao Junjie, Sun Yu, Wang Miao, Wang Xing, Wang Yingruo, Wei Jiacong, Xu Qi, and Yu Hanjing. I would express my deep thanks to Li Minghui,

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vii with whom I shared all my tears and laughs, with whom I had all kinds of interesting conversations, and from whom I learned a lot. I would like to thank Ke Huimin and Luo Yu, whom I met at the Applied Linguistics master course 2016, and remained as good friends since then. Ke Huimin is the bravest girl I have ever met, from whom I am always inspired. I am grateful to the wonderful girls, Peng Hongying, Wang Yingjie, and Zhou Ying, for making Marktstraat 2 a cozy place to live. I am also grateful for the friendship with Liu Hongyun and Zhang Hongyu. I treasure the great memories we three share. I also enjoyed the time with the friends I made in the ice-skating course, swimming lessons, and Groningen Chinese Choir, and special thanks go to Li Qinghong and Gao Li

The beginning of 2020 was difficult for everyone due to COVID-19. During the 'intellectual lockdown' in The Netherlands, I went through a very stressful period revising two articles, writing one new article, and finishing the whole dissertation. I want to thank the family and friends in China who stayed in touch with me, especially, Luo Qin, Song Yongjiao, Wang Qi, and other friends in our Wechat group(青葱岁月). Many thanks go to Reinoud Sluijk and Zhou Ying, who kept me companied in this difficult period. And I would like to express my special gratitude to Reinoud Sluijk for his support and helping with the Dutch abstract and summary of this dissertation. 最后，我要感谢我的父母，我最亲爱的人。我的性格里有着父亲的乐观与豁达，以及母亲的坚韧与勤恳。正是这些品质以及父母对我无私的爱与支持让我在人生的道路上阔步向前，无惧无畏，无怨无悔。 Perpignan, France July 2020 黄婷(Huang Ting)

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List of figures

Figure 2.1: Low vs. high variability in fluency ... 28

Figure 3.1: General improvement in L2 writing proficiency ... 45

Figure 3.2: The moving min-max graph of lowest degree of variability: Student A ... 50

Figure 3.3: The moving min-max graph of highest degree of variability: Student B... 50

Figure 4.1: Automatic version of operation span task ... 66

Figure 5.1: Data overview for E-LOTE learners vs English learners ... 89

Figure 5.2: E-LOTE learners vs. English learners in English motivation at pre-test... 90

Figure 5.3: Different development in English motivation between E-LOTE and English learners ... 91

Figure 5.4: Data overview for E-LOTE learners’ LOTE and English motivation ... 92

Figure 5.5: Correlation plots with Loess smoothing curve for LOTE and English motivation at pre-test ... 93

Figure 5.6: Differences between LOTE and English motivation at pre-test ... 94

Figure 5.7: Different development in LOTE and English motivation ... 95

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List of tables

Table 1.1: Sample size of each independent study ... 6

Table 1.2: Collection time for each type of data ... 7

Table 2.1: Groups and amount of language instruction time ... 19

Table 2.2: The dataset ... 20

Table 2.3: Correlation between the first and second rating of the 50 texts ... 22

Table 2.4: The differences on total proficiency gain scores among two groups ... 24

Table 2.5: The differences in gain scores in complexity between two groups among second year students ... 24

Table 3.1: Composites of motivational variables with Cronbach alpha coefficients ... 41

Table 3.2: Principal component analysis on the nine motivation factors ... 42

Table 3.3: Writing tasks ... 43

Table 3.4: Multiple linear regression analysis on the final L2 writing proficiency ... 46

Table 3.5: Multiple linear regression analysis on the L2 writing proficiency gains ... 47

Table 3.6: Significant Correlations between CoV and Two Motivational Factors ... 52

Table 4.1: Participant groups and the type and amount of instruction ... 64

Table 4.2: Initial status and development of writing proficiency ... 69

Table 4.3: Initial status and development of speaking proficiency ... 69

Table 4.4: Results for main effect of testing time for the first-year students ... 70

Table 4.5: Results for main effect of testing time for the second-year students ... 70

Table 4.6: ANCOVA results and descriptive statistics for language learning intensity effect on WM among the first-year students ... 71

Table 5.1: Participants ... 85

Table 5.2: Details of the ten components of the motivation questionnaire ... 86

Table 5.3: Composites of motivation factors with Cronbach Alpha coefficients ... 87

University of Groningen Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time: Help or hinder? Huang, Ting

Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time:

Help or hinder?

Learning an L2 and L3 at the same time:

Help or hinder?

PhD thesis

Ting Huang

Supervisor

Co-supervisor

Assessment Committee

Acknowledgment

Contents

List of figures

List of tables